New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear a petition seeking an FIR against Justice Yashwant Varma in connection with the discovery of cash from his official residence in March.
The top court observed that the matter has been referred by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to the President and Prime Minister, and hence the petitioners should have moved a representation calling upon the authorities to take action before seeking court’s intervention.
“Before seeking a writ of mandamus, the petitioner will have to seek redressal of their grievances by filing representation before the appropriate authority. Therefore, we decline to entertain the writ petition,” a bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said while dismissing the petition filed by a group of lawyers led by advocate Mathews J Nedumpara.
The Supreme Court referred to a press note of May 8, issued by the Supreme Court, stating that the in-house inquiry committee’s report and the response filed by Justice Varma have been forwarded by then-CJI Sanjiv Khanna to the President and Prime Minister as per procedure to be followed when allegations of misconduct are raised against sitting judges.
CJI Khanna had recommended initiation of process for removal of the judge after reports that the three-member judicial inquiry panel found the allegation of cash at home to be true.
